The present invention relates to hand held exercise devices.
Physical vitality and fitness are improved and maintained by exertion of the body. Various exercises and activities have been devised to enhance overall fitness and to condition specific muscles and muscle groups. Resistance exercise, also called strength training, increases muscle strength and mass and bone strength and improves metabolism. Resistance training can employ free weights, weight machines, and calisthenics. With free weights, such as dumbbells or barbells, the exerciser determines the ranges of motions of the weights as they are lifted. On the other hand, weight machines use the structure of the machine to control the type of movements which can be applied to lifting captive weights. In calisthenics, such as chin-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, “jumping jacks”, and the like, the weight of the exerciser's own body is used as a resistence force to be worked against.
Exercises can be classified by their effects on muscles and according to the character of motion involved. In isometric exercises, muscles contract, but there is no decrease in length. Some muscles may work against other muscles or against a fixed, or relatively fixed, object. Isokinetic exercise refers to exercises which permit maximum muscle contraction throughout the full range of movement of a joint associated with the muscle. Pliometric exercises refer generally to types of exercise in which movement of an object is halted, then reversed in direction of movement. An example of a pliometric exercise is catching and then throwing back a “medicine” ball.
There are a large number of devices, apparatus, and equipment for use in performing various types of exercises, such as the weight machines and free weights mentioned above. Weight machines and barbells tend to be large, heavy, and expensive, as do various type of treadmill machines, weight and exercise benches, and spring based exercise machines. There are also a large number of small, inexpensive devices for use in specific types of strength training and exercises. A large proportion of exercise devices are designed for use by manual grasping and manipulation. In most cases, such grasped devices are sized to be gripped with closed, or mostly closed, hands.
Although there are benefits to be realized using such closed hand gripped devices, it has been found that there are also benefits to exercise devices which cannot be gripped with a closed hand, but which must be supported with open hands. The benefits of such an open handed device involve the necessity of combining isometric muscle contractions with otherwise isokinetic or pliometric types of exercises. The isometric contractions result from the need to clamp or compress such a device between the open palms of the hands to support the device.